Tragic Case of Indie Gregory: Legal Battle Over Terminal Illness Care

2023-11-13 10:41:45

The British girl suffering from a terminal illness, Indie Gregory, died today, following doctors stopped the treatment they were providing to keep her alive, as announced by her parents, who waged a legal battle with her caregivers.

Yesterday, Sunday, care for the eight-month-old little girl was stopped following a final decision by the British Court of Appeal on Friday, in which it considered that stopping care for the little girl outside the hospital would be “very dangerous… given the clinical complications.”

Her father, Dean Gregory, said in a statement that “Indy’s life ended at 1:45 am (Greenwich Mean Time).” He added, “Claire (her mother) and I are angry and feel that the matter is shameful. We are heartbroken.”

He added that the Public Health Authority in Britain “and the courts not only deprived her of the possibility of living longer, but also deprived her of the dignity of dying in the family home to which she belonged.”

Indy’s parents had been waging a battle for months once morest British doctors who recommended stopping care aimed at keeping their child, who suffers from incurable mitochondrial disease, alive, considering that prolonging treatment was futile and would increase her pain. There is no cure for mitochondria, which are genetic diseases that prevent the body’s cells from producing energy.

During the final hearing on Friday, the court decided that the termination of care should take place in a medical facility and not in the parents’ home as they were demanding. Indy was then transferred from the hospital by ambulance with a security escort to a treatment facility.

The case took a diplomatic turn with the direct intervention of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party promotes traditional Catholic family values, to grant Italian citizenship to the child at the last minute.

A hospital in the Vatican offered to continue treating the child. But an English Supreme Court judge ruled on Wednesday that Rome’s intervention does not change anything in previous decisions.

Meloni commented on the “X” network (formerly Twitter): “We did everything we might, everything that was possible.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. Have a nice trip, little Indy.”

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